


Oceans in between us (That's not very far)

by orphan_account



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Angst, Crack, Deus Ex Machina, Everybody Lives, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 05:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/949012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a <a href="http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/1613.html?thread=2559565#t2559565">prompt </a> requesting a deus ex machina way to save everybody.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> They're all bros, but I ship pretty much everyone, so I tried to make it an "I'm not screaming they're together, but if you think they are, they so are" kind of a thing. I got a bit caught up in the angst, so apologies for that, but there's happiness at the end, I promise.
> 
> Warning for non-graphic character injuries and flagrant flaunting of everything medical.
> 
> (The title is a bastardization of Puddle of Mudd's _Blurry_.)

At two AM, nineteen days after closing the Breach, the sensors in LOCCENT go off. They flash and scream for three hours straight before Tendo finally makes sense of things- only they don't make sense.  
  
They want it to be true, but there's no way Crimson Typhoon is out there. No. God. Damned. Way. So Tendo overrides the system and lets the Shatterdome get back to sleep.  
  
Six hours later, the sensors go off again, and a mob of weary, irritated Rangers huddles in the mess, waiting impatiently for the damn things to stop.   
  
Tired of doing nothing, Raleigh had headed to LOCCENT, in case Tendo could use his help. So far, he's just been moral support, though he may have to be back up if Tendo loses his patience and punches the software guy. Raleigh's never seen Tendo fight, so he has to be sure Software can't do too much damage.  
  
In the end, there's no fight. Marshal Hansen- Raleigh's not sure he'll ever get used to calling Herc that, and from the way Herc twitches at the word, that probably makes two- storms through the doors and settles things.  
  
"You- what's wrong with the computer?" he snaps.  
  
"N-nothing! Sir- Marshal!" Software squeaks. He's bigger than Tendo, but compared to the looming marshal, the guy is scrawny.  
  
Herc pivots and glares at Tendo. "If nothing's wrong with the fucking thing, why'm I awake, Choi?"  
  
Raleigh tries not to smile. After the Breach, Herc had gotten too quiet- still spends time with the rangers, but his Ozzie drawl doesn't join in. If Raleigh hadn't seen him planning funerals and discussing Pentecost's will with Mako, Raleigh could have sworn Herc had forgotten how to talk. But then, Chuck had always talked too much, goading him until Herc  _had_  to say something. Herc may never have spoken much, and they're only noticing now.  
  
Hearing him curse releases a knot of concern in Raleigh's chest. Herc's still in there.  
  
"Because it's not fine, Marshal!" Tendo waves at a screen. "It keeps saying it's picking up a signal from Crimson Typhoon. Which is impossible!"  
  
He looks almost as pissed off as the marshal, probably afraid, too, because bringing up Crimson is toeing the line of bringing up Striker, which no one, save Mako, is brave enough to do.  
  
If he notices the fear, Herc doesn't show it. "Where's it say the signal's from?"  
  
"Oregon. On the coast."  
  
"Then take Beckett, some Jaeger techs and a medic team and find out what's happening. Could be a part of the machine is in tact and took a while to reemerge. Let's not risk some fucking American finding it.   
  
"No offense, Beckett."  
  
Four hours later, a team of twelves rangers is folded into the seats of a sleek, private jet and on the way to Oregon.

* * *

As it turns out, there's no problem in LOCCENT or Americans to wrangle. Crimson Typhoon is lying, undisturbed, in a hidden stretch of shore, the triplets at its feet.

Raleigh trips over himself when he sees them, though he feels a little better when he hears Tendo choke on his coffee. One of the medics faints. The smallest tech guy laughs so hard he cries.  
  
The sound wakes one- Hu, probably, but with their helmets on, it's hard to tell- and soon all three are sitting up and chatting happily, as if they'd never been smashed to all hell to begin with.  
  
Not a single one has more than a fading bruise or any memory of what happened, and everyone's too happy to have them back to want to question it.  
  
Getting the Jaeger, somehow as undamaged as its pilots, back to the Shatterdome requires a call to the marshal, which Raleigh gratefully leaves to Tendo. He doesn't want to hear Herc try not to be angry the triplets aren't Chuck.

* * *

Three days of extensive searching from the government, local authorities and what's left of the PPDC doesn't shine any light on what happened to the brothers. Deciding to call it as a miracle- a  _quiet_  miracle, that will  _not_  reach the public- the search is called off and people soon forget the Weis had ever been dead.  
  
Raleigh keeps it to himself, but sometimes, when the light's right, he'd swear the brothers don't quite look human.


	2. Chapter 2

Five days after they find the triplets, the remaining rangers are woken up again by LOCCENT's sensors.  
  
The rush to be the first one in leaves Mako with a black eye, Newt with a concussion for elbowing her and Herc standing funny. Raleigh winces, knowing it was his foot that caught the marshal's knee.  
  
"Cherno Alpha," Tendo exclaims. "Off the western coast of Japan."  
  
Everyone looks at each other for a moment. They know what they want to do- go to Japan, get the Kaidonovskys and bring them home- but they  _can't_. There are protocols. Paperwo-  
  
"Let's go get them, then."  
  
Marshal Hansen, Raleigh decides, isn't so different from Hercules.

* * *

Cherno Alpha is in pieces, dented and irreparable, but the rangers aren't looking for a machine. They're looking for the special surprise inside.

Sasha and Aleksis are curled together in the comm pod, unconscious, when they find them and stay so when they're carefully placed on stretchers, with neck braces and back boards; when they're settled into hospital beds; when the rangers visit at all hours.  
  
According to a chatty medic, they're in some kind of coma. Not medically induced, clearly, but with no visible wounds, the doctors are stumped.  
  
"It's a waiting game," one had said. Mako broke his nose.  
  
Overall, they're made welcome. The staff doesn't yell at Raleigh when he comes to visit outside visiting hours, too worried to enjoy Tokyo, and the government doesn't demand they leave.  
  
The hospital clearly wants them to move on, though. Between Herc's ominous presence, Tendo's caffeine-withdrawal and Raleigh's tendency to get underfoot, he's a little surprised no one's yelled at them.  
  
Except that one lady from Osaka, whose accent had been too thick for anyone but Mako to understand her. He doesn't know what she said, but it had made Mako bite her lip and look at her feet for a long time.  
  
Raleigh's ready for the Russians to wake up any time.

* * *

It becomes a habit to sleep in the hospital room. It starts with Tendo and Herc falling asleep in the chairs, the technician's legs winding up in Herc's lap every morning, despite several reminders to keep them to himself. Then Mako brings a sleeping bag big enough for two, and she and Raleigh take over the floor between the beds.

They find out Tendo talks in his sleep, can even have conversations with them. Mako has cold feet, sharp toe nails and kicks. Raleigh drools- a lot. Herc has silent nightmares he doesn't share.  
  
Hermann calls every day at the same time, 11:15 AM. Newt either piggy backs that call or makes one of his own when he isn't up to his elbows in decomposing kaiju.  
  
It's almost funny, listening to the two of them snipe at each other, but it's hard to forget the Russians, quiet as they are.

* * *

Aleksis' face twitches, and Mako nearly blackens Tendo's eye in excitement.  
  
It's all they get. A little twitch, like his nose itches.  
  
When no one's looking, Raleigh scratches his nose for him, just in case.  
  
Herc's looking at him when he turns around, and there's something eerily Pentecost-ly about him, like he knows exactly what Raleigh's thinking, but Herc stays quiet, just nods sharply. Raleigh nods back, then settles on the floor, Tendo's gift- puzzle with twenty dollars inside- in hand.  
  
A twitch is plenty.

* * *

Sasha wakes first, eyes flying open and sending Mako flying, mascara brush in hand.  
  
 _"I had a friend whose sister was in a coma," she'd explained one day, brushes and tubes sticking out of her pockets. "Every day, she visited her sister and did her makeup. because if she had to die, she would want to look her best. She sent me pictures. Sometimes she did a good job. Others, not so much."_  
  
"Did she wake up, the sister?"  
  
"... No. The kaiju attacked, and the hospital was destroyed."  
  
"And your friend?"  
  
"They were together. I used to envy her. She got to keep her family. But now...I found a new family, and the envy is hard to find."  
  
Sasha quickly frees herself of the equipment attached to her body. Then she slips out of bed, makes her way to Aleksis', gently shoves her way in and falls asleep.  
  
Mako sighs. "I only did one eye."

* * *

Aleksis wakes slowly, with twitches and grunts, and when he finally sits up, weary but happy, his wife flicks his nose.  
  
"Took you long enough."

* * *

Three months after the Russians are admitted, the hospital happily discharges them. Raleigh gets the feeling the staff is planning to celebrate. Unless there's another use for "a kilogram of alcohol each."  
  
Before they leave, however, Aleksis asks to returns to the beach where they were found, one arm slung over Sasha's shoulders as the other motions to Herc.  
  
"We have to say goodbye."

* * *

Whatever Raleigh had been expecting, a massive jellyfish isn't it.  
  
Yet here it is. A huge, yellow, bus-sized squid, floating in the bay. Two tentacles are stretched out, one as wide like a barrel and patting Aleksis' head like he's a dog, dripping and soaking him. The massive Russian is laughing and patting it back, like  _it's_  a dog. (Raleigh doesn't know which is weirder. He's not sure the scale can reach this level.) The second tentacle is thinner and wrapped around Sasha's hips like a living belt, and, like her husband, she seems fine, happily... tickling it?  
  
Goodbye only takes ten minutes, but it's enough time for the non-Russians to worry about reality. The return trip is silent.  
  
Just after they land in Hong Kong, however, Raleigh grins.  
  
"You know, I'm really craving calamari."


	3. Chapter 3

Six months after they find the Kaidonovskys, the PPDC officially closes. The Chinese government reclaims the land under the Dome, then the Dome itself. As the final ex-rangers are leaving, an electrical fire destroys most of the building.  
  
They don't have to talk to know they'll stay together. 

* * *

It takes two months of dingy hotel-hopping and a miracle from former-Marshall Hansen, but they get their hefty pensions and a house built on one of the little islands near Hawaii. Raleigh had been hoping for a place less hot and filled with parasites, but it was a losing battle.  
  
"Aleksis and I must be near water. Our brethren worry when they cannot reach us."  
  
"Hu, Cheung and I would prefer it as well."  
  
"My experiments need a lot of space, you know?"  
  
"... good ventilation and limited interruptions to prevent casualties of Newton's 'experiment,' at least of the human variety..."  
  
There's also the "ruined" multi-million dollar tech from LOCCENT and lab equipment they stole and won't return, not until they know for sure. If the Weis and Kaidonovskys made it, there's a chance Chuck and Pentecost did, too.   
  
It's a weak hope and makes their days and nights drag as, week after week, there's no sign of them.  
  
While the miraculous five distract themselves in the water, playing with squids- if that isn't the freakiest thing, humans tossing a pink, baby-sized squid into back and forth, laughing happily when two massive blue squids do the same to them, Raleigh doesn't want to see it- and disappearing into the ocean for long hours, returning with armfuls of creepy-looking fish Raleigh'd never wanted to see in person, let alone eat- they taste all right, though he could have lived without finding a water spider in one, even if it made the others laugh- the Germans test foul-smelling things and Tendo plays solitaire on a screen countries would kill for, the others have to find other things to do.  
  
Raleigh goes exploring. He'd swim, but he doesn't trust squids, of any size, whatever the Kaidonovskys may claim. Mako joined him a couple times, but after nearly falling off a mountain, she'd decided she liked fixing the house up more.  
  
No one says it, but they're all concerned about Herc. He's graying, in his hair and skin, with dark circles from not sleeping. He joins them for dinner, at least, but he spends most of his time outside, keeping in shape for a war he didn't get to end- that hasn't ended, not for him.  
  
Max waddles around and begs for scraps, but he's careful not to let Herc out of his sight- he got so upset, he broke the front door down once. He'd howled for hours at first, on and on until Herc got one of Chuck's shirts and wrapped him in it. Now that Herc's given in and let him on the bed, Max hasn't made any noise at all.  
  
Sometimes, Raleigh wonders if Herc's parents knew the actual legend of Hercules.


	4. Chapter 4

Eight months after moving to the island, the brothers return late from their swim. They walks into the kitchen slowly, leaving puddles as they go, because they don't have their towels.  
  
Instead, Cheung has a bucket and a hangdog expression.  
  
"We found this," he says softly, placing the bucket on the table.  
  
Herc gets to it first- it's in front of him, after all, and Raleigh knows that hadn't been an accident when he looks inside- and doesn't move for a long minute. He just stands over the neon orange bucket, staring at what's inside.  
  
When he finally moves, it's abrupt, snapping from dumbstruck to weary.  
  
"I understand," he says with a nod. Then he turns and walks away, Max at his heels.  
  
Raleigh is slow to take Herc's place and moves slower still when Mako pulls away, biting a knuckle, but he has to get there eventually.  
  
Nestled on a bed of sand and seaweed is a pilot's helmet with deep fissures and no screen. He doesn't check for blood, because he doesn't get far enough, stomach threatening to revolt. He can't seem to look away, though...  
  
He's never been so grateful as he is when he's tugged away.  
  
"Come," Sasha murmurs. "It is not good to stare at such things. They can wait for the morning."  
  
A heavy hand on Raleigh's shoulder guides him to his room, leaving him to listen to the sound of Aleksis' soft footsteps as he makes his way through the house, tucking everyone in and cleaning up the mess the triplets left.  
  
 _It's a shame they don't have kids._

* * *

As a group, they decide there's no way to know whose helmet it was. The Weis only found the one.  
  
But they also found chunks of Striker Eureka. More than anything else, that confirms the sensors' silence and Tendo's twitching. There haven't been any sirens, because there's nothing to set them off.  
  
Two families out of four isn't bad, two out of three tragedies averted miraculous.  
  
Raleigh's never liked math, and now he knows why. Two being bigger than one doesn't make the one not count, but statistics don't show that. They say the two is bigger, so forget about the one.  
  
The one is awfully big this time.

* * *

Herc digs the grave. No one asks how or when. It doesn't matter.  
  
The helmet stays in the orange bucket, because no one wants to build sandcastles with a coffin, even a temporary one. The sight of it makes Herc's lips twitch.  
  
"Chuck would hate it," he explains later, full of good beer- "Schwarzbier, ladies and gentlemen,"- Hermann had squirreled away, to the obvious surprise of his fellow scientist. "He used to love playing on the beach- spent whole days there, begging to go back before we'd even left. And Pentecost... He'd want a nice, biodegradable one. Preferably brown. Hope it makes him twitch."  
  
They leave the grave unmarked.  
  
Raleigh goes to bed before dinner and isn't surprised to hear his door click shut behind Mako. She drops onto the mattress beside him and sighs. "Sleep or talk?"  
  
"How about we pretend we're Tendo and do both?"  
  
She's still frown-laughing at his impression of the technician's sleepy slur when they hear the real Tendo, fully awake, start shouting.  
  
 _"Kaiju!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, Schwarzbier (literally "black beer") is a kind of German lager. My limited knowledge of it comes mostly from my mother, so no guarantees, but basically it's a heavy, dark beer (Insert joke about Germans and not fucking around here), comparable to stout.


	5. Chapter 5

The scramble to miniLOCCENT almost gets Raleigh killed. After tripping out the door, he has to scramble to avoid getting trampled by the triplets tearing down the hallway. One of them nearly kicks him in the face, giving him a sudden camaraderie with Herc's knee. Watching a foot come flying at him, knowing there's no escape, is terrifying.  
  
Unlike Herc, Raleigh has Mako, who yanks him back just in time.  
  
He doesn't have time to thank her, but as they race after the brothers, he sees her nod at him. They don't need the Drift to know each other. Experience has its own benefits.  
  
A crash ahead catches his attention, the two stopping a few yards from the door to the rest of the house.  
  
The brothers must have run into Aleksis, because there's a pile of Chinese and Russian limbs on the floor, getting each other's way and cursing.  
  
Sasha looks disappointed. "Aleksis! I will be with Choi. Join us when you are a man again."  
  
With that, she marches off, leaving the four on the floor blinking.  
  
"Your wife is frightening," Jin whispers, the first to extricate himself. His brothers nod as they follow.  
  
Privately, Raleigh agrees.  
  
Aleksis shrugs, but he's smiling proudly. "Of course. She is brave as Bochkareva."  
  
"If we could get going...?" Mako interrupts loudly.  
  
The men nod and hurry to their feet. Sasha isn't the only frightening woman.

* * *

"One more time, please? In English?"  
  
Tendo groans but motions for the crowd of pilots to sit.  
  
Dropping to the floor between Mako and Dr. Gottlieb, Raleigh wonders if Tendo realizes he really hadn't been speaking English.  
  
"I said, we've got a kaiju, but there's something weird about it."  
  
"What kind of weird?" the scientists chorus. Newt quirks a brow. Gottlieb looks like he'd rather go swimming with the Russians' squid buddies than admit what just happened.  
  
"The kind where there's definitely a kaiju, but it's not a kaiju. At least, not a kind we've ever seen before."  
  
"What level?"  
  
"One? Maybe? It's small, and it's not moving."  
  
"Dead, then?" Sasha suggests, asking what everyone's hoping.  
  
Tendo shakes his head. "No, it's definitely alive."  
  
"So it's just sitting there? That's it?" Newt sounds disappointed, but Raleigh can feel everyone else's relief. Without Jaegers- hell, without a way to warn people, who've probably begun to forget the monsters, he can't think of anything they could do to stop an attacking kaiju, even a little one.  
  
"Pretty much?"  
  
"And the Breach? Is there any activity there?"  
  
Raleigh hadn't seen Herc and hoped the big man had slept through the ruckus, but it looks like that was another wasted hope, because Herc is by the door, wide awake. He isn't holding himself at attention, though, and there's a new spark of life in him.  
  
Beside him, Mako straightens.  
  
Ranger Hansen is back.  
  
"That's where the kaiju is, but as far as I can tell, that's it. I don't see any more coming," Tendo replies slowly.  
  
"We should make its acquaintance, yeah?" Herc's smile is razor-sharp, and the pieces fall together. "It's only polite."  
  
Aleksis is first to recover. "My mother always said this."  
  
"Your mother is an animal. What would you give it? We're going to have to borrow from someone," Sasha grunts, her smile as sharp as Herc's. "Lucky for you, I know someone."  
  
"We would not want to burden you. We, too, would like to welcome the kaiju," Hu pipes up, his brothers nodding.  
  
Mako isn't smiling, but she's biting her cheek.  
  
"Back in Anchorage, Yancy and I threw the best housewarming parties," he adds. No point missing a fight. "'Welcome to the neighborhood' and all that. They were quite memorable."  
  
"You guys are crazy. How are you going to 'welcome' a kaiju? With some Jaeger scraps?" Tendo's voice slips up an octave. He and the doctors are going to have to wait here, and Raleigh knows- they all know- waiting is worse than fighting, most times.  
  
Herc's smile gets wider. "I think we've got it covered."

* * *

All Raleigh's theories about the triplets turn out to be wrong.  
  
"You're  _mermaids?"_  
  
"No. Ocean people. There's a difference," Cheung sniffs.  
  
Hu elbows his brother. "You can say mermen, if it's easier."  
  
"I thought they were a fairy tales."  
  
"Well, we're not." Clearly, Cheung is touchy about this.  
  
"Could you stop, please?" Jin complains. "The math is difficult enough without distraction. Unless you'd like to drown at the bottom of the ocean?"  
  
Raleigh shuts his mouth. He just hadn't seen people with gills before. What was he supposed to do? Ignore their fins and newly translucent skin? Their milk-white eyes?  
  
Still.  _Mermaids._  
  
"Ocean people.  _O-cean."_  
  
"I didn't say anything!" He knows he only thought the m word. Unless mer- ocean people can read minds?  
  
"Calm down, Becket." Herc comes to stand beside him, smiling wryly. "We could all see what you were thinking."  
  
Raleigh nods, relieved. "So what's the plan?"  
  
"Let the fish people convince their friends the kaiju wants their young. Bring a couple underwater flares. Win."  
  
It's not the craziest plan Herc's had. It's not too far off, though, because the craziest one had Pentecost as co-pilot, and Pentecost knew how to tweak on the fly. There's no Pentecost here, and Mako, the closest they've got to him, looks as ready for the crazy as the Ozzie.  
  
At least no one's riding this kaiju, so Raleigh figures it could be worse.

* * *

If they make it out this alive, he's going to find a nice house in the middle of America that's as far from any body of water bigger than a raindrop as possible, and he's going to buy it and live there and never, ever leave.  
  
The group of former pilots is gliding across the ocean floor on the back of a massive, horrific-looking squid, each encased in a glowing body-bubble. Unfortunately, they illuminate the fauna of the ocean floor, too.  
  
A particularly creepy  _thing_  lands in Raleigh's lap, flopping about and looking like something from a nightmare. There's a reason the things that live down here don't come up. Fuck, they're ugly.  
  
"Oi, Becket! You got a fan?"  
  
Happy as he is that Herc's got some life back, he isn't enjoying the Chuck he's channeling.  
  
"Respectfully, Herc, you can go fuck yourself."  
  
Sasha gives him a stern look, grabbing the "fish" from Raleigh before he can throw it away. "Why are you frowning? The creature is cute. Look, Aleksis. Familiar, da?"  
  
Aleksis squints at his wife's prize, then nods. "Is your sister, no?"

* * *

Today, Raleigh decides, is a lesson in humility. He used to think he knew a lot of things. Turns out, half of it's wrong. Squids can, apparently, make noise. An  _awful,_  screeching, nails-on-chalkboard, wet-rubber-squeezing nose.  
  
"He says the weird thing is a twenty meters away," Aleksis interprets as the monstrous creature slows to a stop. "Are we ready?"  
  
"I don't think squids should call anything weird," Raleigh mutters. The Russians glare at him, and a low, unhappy sound comes from their ride. "... Because they're such kind creatures, I mean. They're the standard of animal goodness."  
  
Tendo's snort is clear through the headset. "Nice recovery."  
  
Raleigh ignores him and hurries forward. "So, Herc. Are we ready then?"  
  
Grim-faced, Herc nods. "I've got the flares. The squid-"  
  
"Sophocles."  
  
"Don't push it, Hu. The squid will throw me at the kaiju. Then the rest of you will direct the wildlife. Got it?"  
  
 _This is insane._  "Got it."  
  
"We'll go on three, then. One, two-"  
  
"Oi, old man! Calm down," a voice calls out, just as a tentacle wraps itself around Herc.  
  
 _"Chuck?!"_


	6. Chapter 6

Raleigh can hear Tendo demanding to know  _what's going on, what's Herc talking about, Chuck?_  but he's hard to understand, because right here, like the best kind of nightmare, is Chuck Hansen. He's suited up, minus the helmet, and grinning like someone who's just told the funniest joke in the world. Riding what Raleigh thinks is supposed to be a kaiju.  
  
"Why are you just standing there?" he snaps when no one says anything.  
  
Everyone still gapes at him silently. It takes Mako shaking herself and wordlessly pointing at his steed for Chuck to get with the program.  
  
"Oh, this fella? This is Iggy. He looks like Iggy Pop, yeah?"  
  
It does, with its thin, humanoid body, angular face and long arms.  
  
"How?" Aleksis gets a proper hold of himself first, but Raleigh can tell the Russian is trying to decide whether to get angry and punch someone or collapse with relief.  
  
Or Raleigh's projecting.  
  
"Funny story, that. Turns out, only the big kaiju get to invade. There's a differeht planet full of these tiny fuckers, and I guess they just got fed up with the bigger ones making messes and making trouble for them. So they figured they'd piss their pain in the ass cousins off. What better way than helping us out, huh? You guys got us outta Striker just in time, didn't ya, little fella?"  
  
While Chuck coos at the Shrinky Dink monster, Raleigh takes the time to see how the others are doing.  
  
The Kaidonovskys have settled on pissed, but they're petting Sophocles and making mutant squid noises, so he figures they'll be okay.  
  
Mako is staring at Chuck like he's got three heads, and Raleigh puts money on Chuck going to bed with a black eye.  
  
The Weis are whispering to each other, occasionally lifting their heads to glare at Chuck and smiling. Which probably means Chuck's going to go to bed with a black eye once the triplets have decided he's been pranked enough.  
  
Newt and Gottlieb's voices have joined Tendo's in the headset, so it's hard to gauge exactly what's happening back there, but it sounds like Newt wants them to bring back the miniature kaiju's brain-  _in tact_ \- while Gottlieb wants Newt to be careful with the equipment and Tendo just wants to know what the fuck is going on.  
  
Raleigh just wishes they weren't standing on a squid at the bottom of the Pacific.  
  
Someone's missing, though. Raleigh looks around and can't figure out who, when a loud, "You little shit!" cuts through the water.  
  
Herc. It takes them a while to put the voice to the body, because Sophocles is waving him like a toy.  
  
"Perhaps we should return now?" Mako suggests slowly.

* * *

The trip back is painfully awkward. Herc sits as far from Chuck as possible, fists clenched where they rest on the squid's head, and Chuck spends the whole ride staring at his father's back, jaw clenched.  
  
Everyone else waits in silence, knowing that, one way or another, the tension will blow over, and hoping for a minimum of blood shed.

* * *

Back at the house, Chuck tells the same story to Tendo and the scientists while everyone else takes showers. Even ocean people and honorary squid need to get the salt off, apparently.  
  
They get back just in time to see Tendo punch Chuck in the jaw.  
  
Suddenly, the return trip doesn't seem so uncomfortable.

* * *

At dinner, they accidentally discover that where Chuck was, only two weeks had gone by. Herc, who'd been hovering in the doorway, turns on his heel and leaves quickly.  
It's Newt who hits Chuck the second time, but it's only in the arm, an accidental product of interest at the idea of the tiny kaiju home world, rather than anger.  
  
The triplets get in their first retaliatory strike. When he cuts into it, Chuck's fish squirts something dark and rancid that sticks to his face.  
  
Raleigh is impressed- he hadn't seen them near the kitchen or the fish- but he isn't counting Mako and the black eye out yet.

* * *

It's late when someone finally asks. "What about Pentecost?"   
  
No one's surprised Herc came back to ask.  
  
"You said 'us.' Does that mean he's alive?"  
  
Chuck's smile is twisted, but he nods. "Yeah. He wasn't allowed to come back yet, but he will."  
  
"Not allowed?" Mako straightens from her slouch against Raleigh's shoulder.  
  
"You remember kaiju blood is poisonous, right?" Everyone nods. They remember. A few eyes slide towards Raleigh, but he doesn't say anything. He'd rather let some ghosts lie. "Well, Iggy's kind is different. I think they're fixing him. Getting rid of the cancer."  
  
"So he- he'll live?"  
  
"He will. He'll live a real long time, Mako." Clearing his throat, Chuck gets to his feet. "I'm tired. Where'm I gonna sleep?"  
  
 _Shit._  They hadn't thought about where the final two would sleep.  
  
"You can bunk with me if you want," Raleigh offers after a long minute of silence. "For tonight."  
  
To his relief, Chuck doesn't argue.

* * *

Middle of the night bathroom runs, Raleigh decides, are the worst, because no matter how hard he tries to make them quick and get back without witnessing anything he shouldn't, he always does. Always.  
  
This time, it's the Hansens fighting. In the kitchen, of all places. Herc's got a bloody nose, and Chuck's cradling his hand.  
  
Raleigh considers stepping in but decides against it. They'll handle things how they want to, and he'll only get in the way.  
  
That doesn't mean he doesn't stick around to make sure no one gets stabbed.  
  
Mostly they just pant at each other, though. There's a loud dull thud at one point, but it isn't loud enough to have any force behind it.  
  
"Why don't you ever worry about me?" Chuck's always been bad at whispering. It's showing now. "You let me be a pilot and fight monsters. Yet I come back from the dead- after a year!- and you couldn't look at me.   
  
"Is it 'cause I'm not Pentecost? What've I gotta do, old man, to get you to give a damn? Die for real?"  
  
The sound of skin on skin is louder this time. "Don't you dare fucking say that! Don't you dare. I give more of a damn than you know, Chuck. Sending my boy off like that,  _my boy_? I was- I  _am_  guilty! I wanted to keep you safe, you bloody fool, not kill you."  
  
Deciding he's heard enough, Raleigh sneaks back to his room, unsurprised to find Mako inside.  
  
"You heard Chuck. He'll be back."  
  
She smiles. "Yes, he will. But what will he do?"  
  
There's no real answer, and Raleigh won't give her a platitude, so he does what he can.  
  
"Back in Anchorage, they were always looking for new strippers-"


	7. Chapter 7

A month a half later, miniLOCCENT detects another "kaiju." The group goes for another squid ride- on a frisky green one named Jean Pierre, who's a lady squid, thank you very much.  
  
Waiting for them is Stacker Pentecost, looking as close to dumbstruck as anyone's ever seen. They have to tow his friend, another little kaiju that looks like something from a cartoon with its bear-like body and purple and green spotted fur, to shore. No one says anything when Chuck leans over and pats its head. The, "Hey, Barney," is a little too far for Raleigh, so Chuck gets punched for that.

Mako is off the squid and in the water, crashing across the shallows as she races to lock her father in a hug, before anyone else is off JP. She doesn't let go even when Pentecost trips on the sand and falls into the waves.  
  
The rest of the ex-rangers wait off to the side, allowing the two their reunion and basking in the odd sound of the former marshall's laughter. They can figure out what to do now after dinner.


End file.
